Belgium

Shopping

Shopping in Brussels can almost be termed a sport, as a lot of
the wealthy residents spend an awful lot of their time and money
competing with each other for the best buys and designer goods.
Head down to the Boulevard de Waterloo area Avenue Louise where all
the designer shops and boutiques can be found. Here one can expect
to see names such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Versace, Chanel and
Bvlgari, to name a few. Specialty shops can be found in Rue Haute
and Rue Blaes.

The Rue Neuve is the main pedestrian shopping street and is
coincidentally the longest one in Brussels. Here shoppers can find
mostly international chain stores while more original independent
stores are located between the Grand Place and the Rue Lemonnier.
The Westland Shopping Mall boasts over 140 shops and has all the
usual big department stores and trendy stores, great for clothing,
jewellery, books and much more.

Most shops close at approximately 6pm every day and sales tax is 21
percent, which can be refunded to non-EU citizens by any of the
shops affiliated to Global Refund Belgium. Shops that
participate will issue a global refund cheque and this can be
stamped at customs and cashed upon leaving the country.

Our Travel Expert

Maria L'Episcopo is an architect born and raised in Turin, Italy. Since 2006 she has moved to different countries around the world to work as project manager for the construction sites of the Olympic Games. She moved to Brussels last October and is currently working for NATO for a project related to the construction of the new Headquarters. The passions of her life are travelling, culture and sport.

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